Yeah right! Monticello the picture on tv that looks like a never ending solar eclipseI go down to rail a lot...ripped colors, dirty, it's terrible...but there are many other tracks worse than that. I guess there is no valet to wash silks

I saw Carmine Abitello and William Popfinger ( i think) get into a huge brawl in the parking lot. As they were getting ready to square off, Jimmy Mahron starts taking action on who was going to win the fight.

It was about 5 am in the morning and the sun was coming up. The cops came and broke it up before it started. Popfinger lived right around the block, and he was bombed, so the cops gave him a ride home.

I saw Carmine Abitello and William Popfinger ( i think) get into a huge brawl in the parking lot. As they were getting ready to square off, Jimmy Mahron starts taking action on who was going to win the fight.

It was about 5 am in the morning and the sun was coming up. The cops came and broke it up before it started. Popfinger lived right around the block, and he was bombed, so the cops gave him a ride home.

Yeah right! Monticello the picture on tv that looks like a never ending solar eclipseI go down to rail a lot...ripped colors, dirty, it's terrible...but there are many other tracks worse than that. I guess there is no valet to wash silks

The last time I went to the rail Herve Filion spit at me. I was lucky it went wide right. its too dangerous.

I saw Carmine Abitello and William Popfinger ( i think) get into a huge brawl in the parking lot. As they were getting ready to square off, Jimmy Mahron starts taking action on who was going to win the fight.

It was about 5 am in the morning and the sun was coming up. The cops came and broke it up before it started. Popfinger lived right around the block, and he was bombed, so the cops gave him a ride home.

The thing I remember most about him was his NZ horse Nadala... ran headlong into a telephone pole, split the pole and walked away like nothing had happened. That story was all over the backstretch in about 6 seconds... 1979.

I can't verify what you say is true, but I assume you are correct because of Loosh's down the road driving style. The stretch was a lot shorter at YR. Plus, the tighter turns at RR made it more difficult for drivers to keep their front runners from drifting in the stretch. You wanted to be third on the rail at RR because you usually got out. Third on the rail at YR was the death seat.

Ken Heeney to George Sadovsky was an auto-toss. George looked like he was ready to split his yellow/green silks, while sitting in the bike.I have to disagree with, I believe Yimmy, ONLY about his recollection of Wheeling Downs. While I never saw a harness race there (was there once years later for the dogs), it was on a Winter circuit with Georgetown (Del.) Raceway at a time when Liberty Bell did not start its meet till February or March. Having been an avid reader of the weekly harness mags back then, and having visited Georgetown twice in, I believe, 1971, I don't believe purses at those two tracks EVER exceeded $ 500, whether it was for (literally) a $ 500 claimer, or an Open Pace. And for years after that, Harrington Raceway's purse for the Open was never above $ 1500.

Hinsdale fans will remember Bobby Kane, who was either a hunchback or had bad scoliosis, winning numerous races. I remember him smirking one night coming out of the winner's circle, having put over a longshot. I seem to recall he was drowned one day, and wondering whether it was an accident or not.

I used to work for George Sadovsky when he and Rick Plano went to Hollywood Park back in 1981.

Interesting, though just a little after my time. I remember him from the 70's... wasn't he a pumpkin farmer or some such? I think his son was the track vet at Monti. George had some decent Down Under horses... I remember a nice one named Golden Dreamer.

As for Ivanhoe, I seem to remember Chappy doing most of the driving for Bucky Norris on those things.

Interesting, though just a little after my time. I remember him from the 70's... wasn't he a pumpkin farmer or some such? I think his son was the track vet at Monti. George had some decent Down Under horses... I remember a nice one named Golden Dreamer......

You are correct. George was a farmer and his son was a track vet in NY. A little after we arrived in Cali, George had to go back east due to his diabetes getting worse. He ended up losing his foot, leg and his life due to infection. I believe his son had the horses shipped to Lou Mettinis. The two better horses names were Stutz (free-legged) Sugar Valley JJ. I believe Lou raced them at Yonkers.

I have to disagree with, I believe Yimmy, ONLY about his recollection of Wheeling Downs. While I never saw a harness race there (was there once years later for the dogs), it was on a Winter circuit with Georgetown (Del.) Raceway at a time when Liberty Bell did not start its meet till February or March. Having been an avid reader of the weekly harness mags back then, and having visited Georgetown twice in, I believe, 1971, I don't believe purses at those two tracks EVER exceeded $ 500, whether it was for (literally) a $ 500 claimer, or an Open Pace. And for years after that, Harrington Raceway's purse for the Open was never above $ 1500.

I checked back on this a bit, since it interested me, and more importantly, since I wanted to check the extent of my CRS. I dug up an old YR program, and I see that on 1/20/75, Linden Star, coming from the fairs for Harry Harvey, won some low conditioned race at Wheeling, for a purse of $900, in the underwhelming time of 2:11.3, at 1-5. You did not often get WD shippers at Yonkers, much less winning ones, but Linden Star did indeed win his next P-M start at Yonkers, $8.20 in the Hopeful Series.